A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) Shares Bought by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 9,172.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 203,157 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 200,966 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC. owned 0.14% of A. O. Smith worth $13,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 4.5% during the first quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,898 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in A. O. Smith by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,838 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,376,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,831 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, A. O. Smith currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.29.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

AOS stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,109,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,293,138. The company has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. A. O. Smith Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.83 and a twelve month high of $92.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.66.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $963.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.39% and a net margin of 13.74%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is 37.99%.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.